Thankfully, The NFL's Replacement Refs Didn't Screw Up Too Much During Giants-Cowboys Opener

Getty Images/Al Bello

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There was a nightmare scenario going into Wednesday night's NFL opener between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys: the NFL's replacement referees were going to fumble and bumble their way through it, extending the game and making huge mistakes along the way.

Luckily, it never happened.

The league's first replacement crew to officiate a real game did quite well actually.

Dallas had a ridiculous 13 penalties, but seven of them came on false starts or a delay of game, a.k.a brain farts and NOT officials being too whistle happy.

New York only had four penalties in the game and Eli Manning said he didn't notice a big difference with the replacement crew.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the refs Wednesday came on a third down pass from Manning to Victor Cruz near the goal line. It appeared Cowboys' cornerback?Orlando Scandrick held Cruz (if not more), but no flag was thrown.

A mistake? Sure. It was hardly a blown call regular officials couldn't have also blown as well.

Outside of that, each team could make a case for a hold or two that didn't get called. Or you can get real nit picky about a clipping penalty that should've just been a block in the back. Those are small potatoes, however.

It was in stark contrast to concerns raised throughout the preseason about replacement refs not fully understanding the rules and thus slowing the game down significantly or simply making the wrong call on a borderline play.

Throw in a player going on record (most voiced their opinions anonymously)?saying replacement refs were going to be a complete disaster, and you had the perfect recipe for a huge mess.

We'll have to wait for Sunday's full slate of games to get the full picture, but it's great to see the first go around went smoothly.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/giants-cowboys-replacement-refs-2012-9

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